1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to very tightly compactable and rapidly inflatable apparatuses, and more particularly, to an inflatable life raft which includes bleeder means in the inflatable chambers thereof to facilitate evacuation of air therefrom when the life raft is folded and stored.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inflatable rafts which can be compacted into extremely small packages have found considerable acceptance for use as life saving devices during emergencies. Theses rafts are designed so that they include a passenger receptacle and are formed with a plurality of inflatable chambers provided in the walls of the raft which are inflated for use. Such life rafts have been inflatable either through oral exhalation of the passenger into a mouthpiece valve or through the use of CO.sub.2 cartridges which expell its contents in the inflatable chambers, upon demand.
The usability and practicality of employing an inflatable life raft depends upon having such apparatus readily accessible when needed. Accessibility basically can be equated to how compactly such an apparatus can be stored when not used. The more compact such an apparatus is when stored, the more accessible a location it can be stored in. For instance, it might be carried in a pocket of the potential user. As a result of such accessibility, it is more likely that an inflatable life raft will be available when needed. If the life raft is bulky and therefore is difficult to store conveniently, it is not as likely that it can be effectively stored and employed.
On inflatable life raft taught by the prior art is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,090,270 issued to Horian on May 23, 1981. This life raft has a rather effective configuration but suffers from the problem of difficulty in deflation and compact storage. Specifically, once the raft has been used, or even just after it is manufactured, it must be folded into a very compact form for storage. As one folds the life raft into a storage position and tries to simultaneously evacuate the air therefrom, the folds in the material create air pockets which a trap air therein and it therefore becomes extremely difficult to evacuate all the trapped air. This trapped air, even after many attempts at forcing it out of the air pockets remains therein and contributes to the bulk of the life raft when stored.
The present invention overcomes this problem associated with the prior art by providing an inflatable life raft which includes a plurality of inflatable chambers that each have disposed therein bleeder means which keep substantially all the areas of the chambers in communication with each other so that as the apparatus is deflated the air can be successfully forced out of the chambers, even when they are folded, as a result of the bleeder means disposed therein. Specifically, even when the material is folded back upon itself, no air can be trapped by such a fold since the bleeder means is also folded and creates an air path through the fold.
In addition, the present invention provides a significant advantage over the prior art by the incorporation of a removable canopy which fits over the passenger receiving receptable of the life raft to protect the passenger from the elements when necessary.